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Child Care

It’s time for change, not politics as usual.

CHILD CARE

1. I will work with state agencies to make sure laws governing child care centers are being enforced to protect our children.

2. I will introduce or support legislation that will make child care affordable for all working mothers and fathers in Colorado.

3. I will support legislation to insure that the persons who our children are entrusted to are professional and responsible. This may require paying child care workers more to attract the most qualified providers.

Detailed position

Unless a family with young children is wealthy enough to afford a nanny or one parent does not work, they need for child care. If a family member is not available to help, they must take their child to a provider. No parent wants to leave their child in the care of strangers, but it is an economic necessity in today’s world. That is why it is important that the state insures that all child care providers are well trained and highly qualified.

Child care providers are often under-paid. It is essential that these workers be compensated at a rate commensurate with the important job they perform–caring for our children. Unfortunately, child care is already a budget-buster for many working parents.

The high cost of child care contributes to wage inequity because it prevents many mothers from accepting higher paying jobs. Lack of child care affects women more often than men because most single-parent households are headed by a woman. Even in a two-parent household, the burden of child care still falls disproportionately on the mother. She is the one whose career is often suppressed by unaffordable and adequate child care. By failing to address this problem, we are in effect furthering discrimination against women in the workplace.

Lack of adequate and affordable child care affects fathers as well. A single-parent household headed by a male is impacted by unaffordable child care as well. Colorado must ensure that lack of affordable child care is no longer a barrier to any parent in the workplace.